


A Road Trip Fic

by Cyborg_Starlight



Category: HLVRAI-Fandom, Half Life VR But The AI Is Self Aware
Genre: Fluff, He/Themrey, I'll add more tags as things happen, M/M, Mutual Pining, Road Trips, Slow Build, Trans Gordon Freeman, Trans Male Character, slowish really
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-06
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-19 06:54:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29870853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cyborg_Starlight/pseuds/Cyborg_Starlight
Summary: It wasn’t like Gordon hated Benrey anymore. Well, not completely at least. Maybe he had when Benrey first came back from the dead, but that was months ago, a lot had changed since then, and over time Gordon found himself laughing with Benrey too. But that didn’t mean Gordon was mentally ready to be trapped in a high speed metal box with him for hours. It seemed like Tommy had other ideas though.---This fic is about road trips, talking out your feelings, and the always wonderful “but there’s only one bed” trope. Because the only kind of fic I can write is the kind where characters talk through their feelings and there’s a car involved. Happy one year anniversary to this delightful piece of media.
Relationships: Benrey/Gordon Freeman, bubby and coomer are married but dont show up until later and they arent the focus
Comments: 5
Kudos: 32





	A Road Trip Fic

Gordon grumbled to himself as he walked briskly through the expansive halls of the research facility. He and the rest of the Science Team had recently joined a new company after the whole Black Mesa… Debacle, and things seemed to be going pretty well, all things considered. The workplace culture felt more relaxed, they were being paid well, and most importantly, as far as Gordon knew, there were no secret extra-dimenstional experiments going on. That said, he was starting to think that the lack of “excitement” was leaving Bubby and Coomer bored. They had left for a short vacation about a week ago and were supposed to be back to work today. Unfortunately, they were nowhere to be found and Gordon had a feeling that this exact event, or lack thereof, was what Tommy wanted to talk about. 

Earlier in the day Tommy had sent him a slightly concerning text asking him if he would mind meeting up after work so they could talk. Of course Gordon agreed, but now that they were actually meeting, hours later, giving Gordon _plenty_ of time to overthink the situation, he was horrified at the idea of what could have possibly happened. Why did Bubby and Coomer call Tommy first anyways? Why hadn’t they called Gordon? He was responsible. And he had saved them countless times, so he wouldn’t mind doing it again. You know, for old times sake.

Although, maybe nobody had contacted Tommy at all. Maybe Tommy just wanted to talk about what they should do next, or see if they still wanted to do one of their weekly Science Team lunches without them. But if they had contacted Tommy because something was wrong, _anything_ could have happened.

“Mister Freeman?”

The sudden call shocked him to a halt. But as Gordon looked around, he quickly came to notice Tommy nearby, smiling and waving in his direction, easily unknotting the ball in his stomach. 

“Oh, uh, hey man,” He called back, walking in Tommy’s direction, “What’s up?”

“Well,” Tommy said, grinning to himself, “You may have heard, but it looks like Bubby and Coomer might have gotten into a little bit of trouble.”

Gordon had definitely _not_ heard. He sighed, Tommy’s casual nature assuring him that the situation wasn’t anything too dire, “What kind of trouble?” 

“Oh, so you haven’t?- Um, it seems that they have gotten themselves... Arrested.”

_What?_

“I’m sorry, they got _arrested_? How in the fuck did two old men on vacation get arrested?”

“Well, as far as I know, Mister Freeman, Bubby lit a cop car on fire, but they can’t prove it was him because it was started by... Um, unconventional measures and, well, Coomer might have tried to punch the officer who was arresting Bubby.”

Gordon gave Tommy an incredulous look, at which point he held up his hands defensively. 

“But I don’t think he actually hit the cop! Probably… Well maybe he did, but um, either way they’re both being held but none of the charges look like they’re going to stick, so, they’re, uh, both due to be released soon.”

“Oh god,” Gordon groaned, raking a hand through his hair at the barrage of information, “I’m assuming they want us to bail them out? Where the hell are they being held?”

“Well, um, you see, that’s part of why I asked you to meet me here.”

“Oh no.”

“They got arrested in Portland.”

“In Oregon? That’s, like, a twenty hour drive from here! Can we just mail them a check and let Bubby and Coomer drive home on their own?”

“Mister Freeman! They are our friends!”

“I know, I know, I’m sorry,” Gordon sighed, “You’re right Tommy.”

“I really— I just think it would be very helpful if you could, um, drive down there and pick them up. You can be pretty good about keeping people out of trouble”

Gordon sighed. 

“I’ll call into work tonight and take time off as soon as I can, but, uh, that’s a pretty long drive to do by myself. Are you planning on coming with me?”

Tommy shook his head “I’m sorry, I can’t. I have a big, uh, experiment coming up and the team cannot reschedule again.” Tommy looked downcast at the floor for only a moment before his face lit up, “Oh! But I know that Benrey has this week off!”

Gordon let out a childishly long groan, “Benrey? Really? A long road trip with him?”

It wasn’t like Gordon _hated_ Benrey anymore. Well, not completely at least. Maybe he had when Benrey first came back from the dead, but that was months ago, and a lot had changed since then. Benrey had been a part of the weekly Science Team lunches ever since the first one. Which, Gordon had to admit, was the least chill of all their lunches, mostly thanks to his own yelling. But no matter what Gordon said, Benrey stayed right there, laughing and joking with the rest of their group, and over time Gordon found himself laughing with Benrey too. 

But so what if Benrey made him laugh sometimes? That didn’t mean they were friends. They were _friendly_ , sure, even Gordon could admit that now, but they weren’t _friends_. Not yet at least. Sure, to an outsider's perspective it probably _looked_ like they were friends, but that didn’t make it true. And it certainly didn’t mean Gordon was mentally ready to be trapped in a high speed metal box with him for hours. It seemed like Tommy had other ideas though.

“Maybe this is a chance for the two of you to talk things out, Mister Freeman! I know Benrey can be difficult to understand sometimes, but you two have been getting along lately, so maybe this is a good opportunity!”

“Right,” Gordon chuckled, “Getting along.”

“You have! You two seemed very pleasant when we got together the other weekend.” 

“Well, that’s true.” He relented, thinking back on the game of laser tag they had dominated at. He had to admit, seeing Bubby’s face when their scores eclipsed his, Darnold and Coomer’s was pretty incredible. “I won’t force anything though.”

Tommy beamed so brightly it almost made up for what Gordon was about to put himself through. “I’m so glad you can be friends again! I’m sure you will both come out of this closer than ever before!”

“Right… uh, you wouldn’t mind calling him to let him know about our little trip would you? I don’t think I ever got his number.” 

“I could,” Tommy said, fishing his phone out of his coat pocket, “but it might be easier for me to just give you his number so you can work out the dates together.”

“Oh. Yeah, that makes more sense.” Gordon said sheepishly. 

Tommy smiled, taking Gordon’s phone and inputting the new contact, along with a generous amount of emojis. Normally, he might have complained, but suddenly Gordon was hit with a wave of exhaustion, the rest of his day finally catching up to him. Instead, he shrugged off his lab coat and draped it over his arm. The day was almost over. Soon he would be safe at home settling into his couch. Maybe he’d treat himself by making some pasta and passing out to something frivolous on TV, like one of those baking competitions. Joshua always hated shows like that, especially the ones with the British accents, so he tried his best to catch them during the weeks when he was at his mother’s house. 

“Here you go, Mister Freeman!” Tommy held out the phone for Gordon, who took it back and slid it into his pocket. 

“Sweet! Thanks Tommy, I’ll be sure to call him tonight.”

“I’m, uh- I look forward to hearing about your road trip when you guys get back.”

Gordon laughed. “Yeah and I look forward to hearing how the Science Team lunch with just you and Darnold goes.”

Tommy gave Gordon a little shove and a sheepish smile, “We’ll trade stories when you get back. Goodbye Mister Freeman. Drive safe!”

“I will! Bye, Tommy.” Gordon waved as his friend trotted off. With a sigh, he started off towards the parking garage himself. 

——————————

The drive to his apartment was graciously un-painful. Staying back to speak with Tommy meant most of the usual traffic had moved on and Gordon made it home without having to scream at another driver even once. He rested his head against the door of his apartment, flipping through his key ring until he found the right one. He had to try the lock twice before it finally agreed to let him in, but it gave with a “pop.” Gordon let out a small, relieved sigh before throwing most of his body weight against the stubborn door. He stumbled inside, tossing his keys into the little bowl Joshua had made for Father’s Day. 

Gordon rubbed at his face with his hands as he kicked off his shoes. Layer by layer, the worries of the day began to roll off of him. He drifted into his living room, dropping his phone onto the coffee table beside the remote, which he picked up, flicking the TV on. He stood beside his couch, navigating through menus until he found his show. Content with the calming tone, he walked over to the kitchen, pulling a beer from the fridge. 

As he took a sip he started rooting through the pantry, looking for something easy to make. He pulled out some macaroni he bought for his son. It was the last box in the apartment, but he could definitely get more before it was his week with Joshie again. Just in case, he made sure to add it to one of the many sticky notes that currently lived on his fridge before making the sad pasta (which definitely wouldn’t be sad once he added real cheese and some sriracha). 

—

An hour or so later, Gordon sighed with his head in his hands. He had called into work and managed to get time off for a “family emergency,” as well as polish off the entire pot of macaroni, but now his eyes bore into his phone, which was sitting menacingly on the coffee table in front of him. He had taken care of as much as he could, but now he had to tackle the hard part: asking Benrey for help. He could always text him, though he wasn’t sure if that would make the situation easier or harder than calling. He tried to imagine a text conversation between them, but his mind came up blank. 

He was suddenly acutely aware that he and Benrey had hardly ever been alone together. Back in Black Mesa someone had _always_ been nearby, whether they were allies or enemies, and it’s not like he had been trying to get to know the guy back then either. He had other shit to worry about! Even now that they were “hanging out” together on weekends, they were always with the rest of the Science Team. 

It’s not like he had ever _wanted_ to spend time alone with Benrey, but now he would have to. Twenty one hours of driving was a little too much to be doing by himself. So he would just have to suck it up and learn how to be comfortable around Benrey. Just the two of them. 

Alone. 

For hours. 

No, not just hours, for two whole days. Gordon shook his head. He was overthinking this. What was he afraid of anyways? As far as he knew, Benrey was done with the whole “being a final boss” thing, so he was just a normal guy. Well, a weird guy, but a weird guy who’s worst case scenario involved a very silent, awkward car ride. Or maybe a very loud, angry car ride, but at least that was something Gordon was familiar with. 

He picked up the phone, swallowing the lump in his throat and dialing his newest contact: “Benrey” but with at least four blue hearts, and other miscellaneous emojis surrounding the name. Tommy sure went all out. The phone rang, and rang, and rang. Realizing Benrey probably wasn’t going to answer Gordon let go of the breath he was holding. Finally he heard a beep.

“Hey, uh, it’s Gordon, I was wonder-“

“You have reached _Benrey_ , please leave a message after the beep.” The whole narration had been monotone, but the “Benrey” was a little pocket of the deep sort of monotone that Gordon had become familiar with. 

He sighed with relief as he waited for the phone to beep. “Hey Benrey, it’s Gordon. Tommy gave me your number and I was thinking-“ 

There was a brief click and the sound of something, multiple somethings, hitting the phone, followed by an agonizing beat of silence before Gordon heard that same familiar, flat tone.

“Freeman?”

Gordon felt himself freeze for a moment. He had just mentally prepared himself to leave a message, and now Benrey was destroying his false hope? How rude of him to pick up _now_. “Uh, yeah?” He cringed as he heard his own voice crack, “Is this Benrey?”

“Just like the answering machine says. Didn’t, uh, didn’t expect you to be calling.” Gordon heard a small groan as Benrey seemed to settle into a different position. “Can’t get enough time with Benny-boy? Had to beg Tommy for my number, huh?”

Gordon groaned, “I did not have to _beg_ Tommy for your number. He gave it to me.”

“Yeah? What’d you have to do to get him to _give_ it to you then? Buy him a month of Playstation Plus?”

“No, I-“

“Walk Sunkist for him?”

“He loves walking her!”

“Did you bat your pretty eyelashes at him?”

“Benrey.”

“With those puppy eyes of yours?”

“Benrey.” He said, more sternly.

“Are you _sure_ you didn’t b-“

“BENREY!”

There was silence from the other side of the phone. Gordon could just imagine the shitty look on Benrey’s face. Actually, his face was probably as impassive as ever, but it was the principal of the whole thing.

“...Yeah, Feetman?” Benrey’s voice came out quieter than he had expected so Gordon sighed, swallowing his pride.

“I have to drive up to Portland this week and I need a partner. Can you come with me?”

“Wuh-?”

“Tommy’s got work he can’t get out of, and we’d be going to pick up Bubby and Coomer so, uh, you’re kinda my only option.”

“Oh.”

It almost sounded like Benrey was…Disappointed? 

“Tommy said you were, uh, probably off work this week.” Gordon rubbed at his upper arm.

“Uh, yeah, I am. How, um, how long’s the trip?”

“Well, the drive is about twenty-one hours. I don’t actually know if you drive, but we could split it up, or stop somewhere in Utah at a motel or something.”

“A motel?”

“Yeah Benrey, it’s like a hotel but it’s smaller and cheaper and shittier. We could split a two bed room and it probably wouldn’t cost too much. It’ll be great.” He said, with a not- _completely_ -obvious amount of sarcasm.” Like, uh, a college dorm room or something. Actually, did you ever go to college? Doesn’t really matter I guess, you’ve seen movies. It’s not entirely unlike “Real Genius” except in, well, every way I can think of. I guess. Maybe it isn’t like “Real Genius”.” Gordon was rambling at this point but he didn’t care. He just needed a “yes” from Benrey.

“Could we drive through the night?”

That wasn’t the response Gordon expected. They had slept near each other before, so he was surprised the idea of it seemed to be putting Benrey off. In all fairness, that had been under different, admittedly traumatizing circumstances, and now that he thought about it, Gordon wasn’t entirely sure he had ever _actually_ seen Benrey sleep.

“Yeah, I guess. I mean, we might still have to stay at a motel in Portland if we get there late, and I’m honestly not sure how long this whole Bubby and Coomer thing will take, but split in half the drive is about eleven hours each which is, y’know, tough but doable.”

“So… Either way we’re...“

“Yes Benrey, either way we’re probably staying at some shitty motel. Can you do it or not?”

“Um…” Benrey spoke slowly, cautiously like the wrong words would set something off, “Are you- Uh, are you sure you want me coming with you?”

“Honestly no, but you’re all I’ve got, bud, and I definitely don’t wanna do this alone.”

There was a beat of silence.

“Okay.”

“Okay as in you get it, or you’ll come, or..?”

“I’ll come with you… If that’s what you want.”

“It’s not what I want Benrey. I need you to come with me.”

“... Right.” 

Gordon swallowed. He could hear something in Benrey’s voice. Something that made the air feel thick and tense, coated in a feeling he didn’t quite recognize. He worried at the seam on his slacks. Maybe he was being a bit too rude. Benrey hadn’t really done much of anything today, but time after time Gordon found himself wound up like a spring when he was around Benrey. Even so, he wasn’t being as antagonistic as he could be, and he was technically doing Gordon a favor here. He could just barely hear Benrey breathing on the other end of the phone, almost drowned out by the clock on Gordon’s wall, still an hour ahead because he hadn’t remembered to change it during daylight saving time. He should really get on that. Or maybe he should speak, say something to break the silence and tear them from this moment he got them trapped in. 

“So?” Benrey coughed, taking him by surprise, “When will we be leaving?”

“Tomorrow.” Gordon said, too fast.

“Tomorrow?” Benrey sounded as shocked, maybe even as panicked, as Gordon felt. Not that Gordon could blame him.

“Yes, tomorrow! Gives me less time to overthink this decision. Just like, pack a bag with some clothes and a toothbrush or whatever and I’ll come pick you up around ten.”

“Um, okay, yeah. I’ll, uh, I’ll see you tomorrow, I guess…”

“Yep, see you then Benrey. I’m... hanging up now.”

“M’kay, bro. I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Yeah, in the morning…”

“... Uh huh?”

Gordon waited a moment, not daring to hang up yet, but not trusting himself to speak either. He breathed out slowly. He hadn’t exactly been the nicest, and Benrey _was_ really saving his hide here. The least he could do was thank him.

“Hey, uh, Benrey?”

“... Mhmm?”

“Thanks. For, uh, coming with me. Especially on such short notice.”

“Anytime, Feetman, don’t mention it.”

“Right. Yeah, of course. Uh, I’ll see you tomorrow morning.” 

“See you then.”

Gordon hung up with a beep, limbs falling to his side in a dramatic heap as his phone slipped easily from his hand onto the couch. A wave of relief crashed over him. That call could have gone much worse, and at least now he had a driving partner. 

Gordon let out a long, relieved sigh. 

_Shit._

He still had to pack. 

**Author's Note:**

> Gordon complains about a solo 21 hour, 2 day long road trip being too difficult in this fic, but I recently completed a 28 hour, 3 day long, solo road trip myself. Therefore I could absolutely kick his ass in a 1-on-1 fight, thank you. Also this is my first fic in I think 3 years. The funny Half Life show really has done me in.
> 
> I've already written up most of this fic, but the goal is to update about once a month with 6-8 chapters total!
> 
> (Proofread but not currently beta'd feel free to let me know any mistakes and I'll try to fix them :D )


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